Overview

This is the analysis of the relationship between white matter microstructure and hormones across pregnancy in one single subject.

Participants

  • One subject and a total of 25 scans from July 2019 to May 2021. Scans range from baseline to IVF to post pregnancy. The number of scans in the analyses varies by hormone analysis and time.

  • 18 scans were preprocessed successfully. 7 scans removed due to issues with the DWI.

Scan parameters

  • Locations from UCSB and UCI

Blood work

  • Subject was measured for various levels of hormones including estrogen, progesterone, LH, FSH

Exclusions

  • Scan 08/13/19 (labeled as sub-003) was excluded

QSIprep

  • Version used

DSI Studio : Correlational connectometry

Version and tags used chen-2022-07-31
Parameters
  • Length = 25
  • Permutation = 10,000
  • pruning 4
  • non normalized QA T threshold: 2.5
Analyses
Estrogen
  • Total scans: 16
  • Total pregnancy scans = 9
  • 2 scans removed due to having no estrogen measurement
Progesterone
  • Total scans: 15
  • Total pregnancy scans = 9
  • 3 scans removed due to having no progesterone measurement

Results

Estrogen

Summary

QA was positively correlated with estrogen levels across numerous tracts including corpus callosum and cingulum. DSI found tracts in the cerebellum with AD, RD, and MD were negatively associated with estrogen levels. Suggesting that increased levels of estrogen are associated with better white matter micro structure. When analyzing pregnancy only scans, DSI only found significant results in the QA analysis. QA was positively associated with estrogen levels.

QA

All weeks

Positive (FDR= 0.002484)
Tract Name number of tracts mean length(mm) diameter(mm) volume(mm^3)
Corticospinal_Tract_L 639 61.6495 10.9617 5818
Corpus_Callosum_Forceps_Major 424 59.2877 9.10471 3860
Inferior_Longitudinal_Fasciculus_L 288 62.1736 8.17073 3260
Middle_Cerebellar_Peduncle 259 63.5907 10.5273 5535
Corpus_Callosum_Tapetum 243 54.5021 10.8595 5048
Medial_Lemniscus_L 188 55.734 7.46909 2442
Corpus_Callosum_Body 182 58.4286 9.41874 4071
Inferior_Fronto_Occipital_Fasciculus_R 168 56.5 7.31889 2377
Inferior_Longitudinal_Fasciculus_R 126 59.6032 7.05199 2328
Inferior_Fronto_Occipital_Fasciculus_L 115 55.7217 5.85253 1499
Dentatorubrothalamic_Tract_L 98 59.0816 7.58976 2673
Corticostriatal_Tract_Superior_L 92 53.5435 6.06523 1547
Cingulum_Frontal_Parietal_L 84 58.3095 4.58324 962
Corticostriatal_Tract_Posterior_L 82 60.3659 5.98274 1697
Cingulum_Frontal_Parietal_R 80 55.85 4.30251 812
Thalamic_Radiation_Posterior_L 36 55.3333 4.9666 1072
Corticopontine_Tract_Parietal_L 34 58.7647 5.12869 1214
Negative (FDR= 0.250000)

No significant Findings

Positive Tracts

Positive Correlations between QA and Estrogen across pregnancy stages

Positive Correlations between QA and Estrogen across pregnancy stages

Positive Correlations between QA and Estrogen across pregnancy stages

Pregnancy only

Positive (FDR= 0.043802)
Tract Name number of tracts mean length(mm) diameter(mm) volume(mm^3)
Middle_Cerebellar_Peduncle 1420 63.393 18.2287 16544
Corticospinal_Tract_L 1293 61.1524 14.0396 9467
Corpus_Callosum_Body 683 59.8184 14.5339 9924
Dentatorubrothalamic_Tract_L 380 65.8947 13.3155 9176
Medial_Lemniscus_L 369 56.0217 10.6003 4944
Corticostriatal_Tract_Posterior_L 153 59.1111 7.06606 2318
Corpus_Callosum_Forceps_Major 145 56.7724 7.89319 2778
Corticostriatal_Tract_Superior_L 124 54.8387 8.87441 3392
Cingulum_Frontal_Parietal_L 89 58.0899 4.85636 1076
Inferior_Longitudinal_Fasciculus_L 80 60.35 6.18806 1815
Medial_Lemniscus_R 80 57.475 6.86919 2130
Corpus_Callosum_Tapetum 75 55.76 7.83736 2690
Thalamic_Radiation_Posterior_L 72 54.0278 6.93194 2039
Dentatorubrothalamic_Tract_R 67 103.075 7.12265 4107
Extreme_Capsule_R 61 57.5082 5.19721 1220
Arcuate_Fasciculus_L 60 54.4333 5.83985 1458
Superior_Longitudinal_Fasciculus1_R 59 57.2881 5.31908 1273
Negative (FDR= 1.0000)

No significant Findings

MD

Positive (FDR= 0.205882)

No significant findings

Negative (FDR= 0.002002)
Tract Name number of tracts mean length(mm) diameter(mm) volume(mm^3)
Cerebellum_L 98 53.4694 5.01695 1057
Cerebellum_R 61 52.3607 4.86667 974
Middle_Cerebellar_Peduncle 16 56.125 2.74439 332
Negative Tracts

Negative Correlations between MD and Estrogen across pregnancy stages

Negative Correlations between MD and Estrogen across pregnancy stages

Negative Correlations between MD and Estrogen across pregnancy stages

Pregnancy

No significant findings

RD

All weeks

Positive (FDR= 0.122222)
Tract Name number of tracts mean length(mm) diameter(mm) volume(mm^3)
Cerebellum_L 40 52.85 4.43382 816
Cerebellum_R 6 51.3333 1.88332 143
Negative (FDR= 0.001106)
Tract Name number of tracts mean length(mm) diameter(mm) volume(mm^3)
Cerebellum_L 179 53.0838 6.30618 1658
Cerebellum_R 129 52.5271 6.49252 1739
Middle_Cerebellar_Peduncle 46 54.7826 4.28496 790
Negative Tracts

Negative Correlations between RD and Estrogen across pregnancy stages

pregnancy only

No significant findings

Progesterone

Summary

DSI found significant positive and negative correlations between QA and progesterone in various tracts. There were positive and negative correlations between progesterone and AD, RD, and MD but most of the tracts show a positive association. This suggests that higher levels of progesterone may be associated with decreased or altered white matter integrity and increased levels of diffusion. When analyzing pregnancy only, DSI found significant positive correlations with QA only. Interestingly, it appears that tracts in the cerebellum have the opposite relationship with progesterone compared to estrogen. Tracts in the cerebellum show a positive relationship between progesterone and AD, MD and MD. This suggests that higher levels of progesterone in the cerebellum are associated with increased levels of diffusion, a typical signal of weakened or decreased white matter integrity.

QA

All weeks

Positive ( FDR= 0.002484 )
Tract Name number of tracts mean length(mm) diameter(mm) volume(mm^3)
Middle_Cerebellar_Peduncle 977 64.52 15.6524 12415
Corticospinal_Tract_L 682 60.9413 11.9018 6780
Corpus_Callosum_Forceps_Major 612 59.8987 10.5649 5251
Corpus_Callosum_Body 472 58.4661 12.5027 7178
Corpus_Callosum_Tapetum 354 55.3559 11.9003 6157
Inferior_Fronto_Occipital_Fasciculus_R 352 59.733 8.83139 3659
Inferior_Longitudinal_Fasciculus_R 266 61.2932 8.70873 3651
Medial_Lemniscus_L 236 55.5847 8.50652 3159
Dentatorubrothalamic_Tract_L 157 64.8408 9.4502 4548
Cingulum_Frontal_Parietal_R 146 56.6027 5.70717 1448
Cingulum_Frontal_Parietal_L 135 60.0889 5.78977 1582
Arcuate_Fasciculus_L 120 55.9333 6.5644 1893
Corticostriatal_Tract_Posterior_L 92 63.3913 6.47753 2089
Corticostriatal_Tract_Superior_L 91 54.044 6.85056 1992
Arcuate_Fasciculus_R 81 56.6914 6.80685 2063
Thalamic_Radiation_Posterior_L 76 55.6842 6.22917 1697
Medial_Lemniscus_R 72 57.3611 5.9464 1593
Extreme_Capsule_R 56 57.0357 4.56131 932
Neg ( FDR= 0.250000)
Tract Name number of tracts mean length(mm) diameter(mm) volume(mm^3)
Inferior_Longitudinal_Fasciculus_R 152 61.9605 6.64995 2152
Inferior_Fronto_Occipital_Fasciculus_R 113 61.0088 7.03584 2372
Inferior_Fronto_Occipital_Fasciculus_L 63 56.6667 5.56639 1379
Cerebellum_L 57 54.1053 5.27851 1184
Corpus_Callosum_Forceps_Minor 39 56.3077 4.80725 1022
Corpus_Callosum_Forceps_Major 31 57.0323 2.98457 399
Corpus_Callosum_Body 27 55.9259 4.52154 898
Optic_Radiation_L 24 57 3.83672 659
Anterior_Commissure 21 61.8095 4.02638 787
Middle_Cerebellar_Peduncle 18 60.7778 3.09415 457
Cerebellum_R 11 51.8182 2.06771 174
Vermis 10 51.2 2.25235 204
Corticostriatal_Tract_Posterior_L 8 60.5 2.67889 341
Positive Tracts

Positive Correlations between QA and Progesterone across pregnancy stages

Negative Tracts

Negative Correlations between QA and Progesterone across pregnancy stages

Positive and Negative Tracts

Positive and Negative Correlations between QA and Progesterone across pregnancy stages

Pregnancy only

Positive ( FDR= 0.043802 )
Tract Name number of tracts mean length(mm) diameter(mm) volume(mm^3)
Middle_Cerebellar_Peduncle 1143 63.0534 16.8659 14087
Corticospinal_Tract_L 480 59.4708 11.012 5664
Medial_Lemniscus_L 204 56.0196 8.01015 2823
Corpus_Callosum_Body 173 58.4624 9.63098 4259
Dentatorubrothalamic_Tract_L 150 68.2533 9.47055 4808
Corticostriatal_Tract_Superior_L 68 55.1765 6.18544 1658
Medial_Lemniscus_R 58 55.931 5.89201 1525
Corticopontine_Tract_Parietal_L 42 63.0476 5.56587 1534
Thalamic_Radiation_Posterior_L 39 55.8974 4.85779 1036
Dentatorubrothalamic_Tract_R 32 106.75 5.46498 2504
Corticostriatal_Tract_Posterior_L 30 61.2 4.79469 1105
Superior_Longitudinal_Fasciculus1_R 29 54.9655 3.49725 528
Inferior_Cerebellar_Peduncle_R 28 83.5 4.77615 1496
Neg ( FDR= 1.0000)

No significant Findings

MD

All weeks

Positive ( FDR= 0.002484 )
Tract Name number of tracts mean length(mm) diameter(mm) volume(mm^3)
Cerebellum_R 358 54.1955 11.1692 5310
Cerebellum_L 214 54.1776 7.25229 2238
Corpus_Callosum_Forceps_Major 106 56.3396 6.36381 1792
Vermis 78 55.7692 5.39738 1276
Fornix_R 39 55.6923 3.66957 589
Corpus_Callosum_Tapetum 34 59.3529 4.43284 916
Middle_Cerebellar_Peduncle 14 53.5714 3.33868 469
Neg ( FDR= 0.250000)
Tract Name number of tracts mean length(mm) diameter(mm) volume(mm^3)
Cerebellum_R 68 51.4118 4.61501 860
Cerebellum_L 50 53.6 3.81595 613
Positive Tracts

Positive Correlations between MD and Progesterone across pregnancy stages

Positive Correlations between MD and Progesterone across pregnancy stages

Negative Tracts

Negative Correlations between MD and Progesterone across pregnancy stages

Negative Correlations between MD and Progesterone across pregnancy stages

Positive and Negative Tracts

Positive and Negative Correlations between MD and Progesterone across pregnancy stages

Positive and Negative Correlations between MD and Progesterone across pregnancy stages

Pregnancy only

No significant Findings

AD

All weeks

Positive ( FDR= 0.002484 )
Tract Name number of tracts mean length(mm) diameter(mm) volume(mm^3)
Cerebellum_R 244 53.8361 9.61012 3905
Cerebellum_L 208 54.5288 6.49563 1807
Middle_Cerebellar_Peduncle 60 56.7 4.59194 939
Corpus_Callosum_Forceps_Major 20 53.4 4.06198 692
Vermis 17 53.0588 2.88563 347
Corpus_Callosum_Forceps_Minor 13 52.4615 2.92699 353
Neg ( FDR= 0.250000)
Tract Name number of tracts mean length(mm) diameter(mm) volume(mm^3)
Cerebellum_R 65 51.1692 4.0525 660
Cerebellum_L 20 54.5 2.22023 211
Positive Tracts

Positive Correlations between AD and Progesterone across pregnancy stages

Positive Correlations between AD and Progesterone across pregnancy stages

Negative Tracts

Negative Correlations between AD and Progesterone across pregnancy stages

Negative Correlations between AD and Progesterone across pregnancy stages

Positive and Negative Tracts

Positive and Negative Correlations between AD and Progesterone across pregnancy stages

Pregnancy only

No significant Findings

RD

All weeks

Positive ( FDR= 0.002484 )
Tract Name number of tracts mean length(mm) diameter(mm) volume(mm^3)
Cerebellum_R 572 54.5594 12.4219 6612
Cerebellum_L 312 54.2756 8.68446 3215
Vermis 120 55.4 6.81696 2022
Corpus_Callosum_Forceps_Major 76 55.7105 5.52366 1335
Corpus_Callosum_Tapetum 34 55.8824 4.14755 755
Middle_Cerebellar_Peduncle 25 54.4 4.39689 826
Fornix_R 20 54 3.48467 515
Anterior_Commissure 15 54.4 3.02513 391
Neg ( FDR= 0.250000)
Tract Name number of tracts mean length(mm) diameter(mm) volume(mm^3)
Middle_Cerebellar_Peduncle 162 55.2346 7.84375 2669
Cerebellum_L 125 53.04 5.12462 1094
Cerebellum_R 124 52.5484 5.98631 1479
Positive Tracts

Positive Correlations between RD and Progesterone across pregnancy stages

Positive Correlations between RD and Progesterone across pregnancy stages

Negative Tracts

Negative Correlations between RD and Progesterone across pregnancy stages

Negative Correlations between RD and Progesterone across pregnancy stages

Positive and Negative Tracts

Positive and Negative Correlations between RD and Progesterone across pregnancy stages

Positive and Negative Correlations between RD and Progesterone across pregnancy stages

Pregnancy only

No significant Findings

END